Theme 1
Transboundary Aquifers and Hydro-Diplomacy
Focus: International cooperation and shared groundwater resources
- Delineation and Characterization of Transboundary Aquifers: Aquifer boundary identification, hydrostratigraphic correlation, conceptual hydrogeological models, groundwater flow systems, shared aquifer inventories.
- International Groundwater Law and Governance: International water law, transboundary aquifer agreements, institutional arrangements, governance frameworks, legal instruments.
- Joint Monitoring and Data Sharing: Binational monitoring networks, harmonized monitoring protocols, shared databases, groundwater information systems, open data platforms.
- Science Diplomacy and Trust Building: Transboundary cooperation, science diplomacy, international negotiations, confidence-building across borders, hydro-diplomacy.
- Regional Experiences and Lessons Learned: Case studies from North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Middle East, and Asia.
- Water Security, Migration, and Regional Stability: Groundwater and human security, water scarcity and migration, conflict prevention, socio-environmental vulnerability, resilience in arid and semi-arid regions.
Theme 2
Groundwater Resources, Security and Climate Resilience
Focus: Groundwater systems, resources, and adaptation to global change
- Groundwater Recharge and Climate Variability: Recharge estimation, climate impacts on recharge, extreme events, recharge modelling, paleohydrology, managed aquifer recharge (MAR), the relationship between recharge and groundwater flow system (GFS).
- Groundwater as a Climate Adaptation Resource: Drought management, emergency water supplies, climate adaptation planning, ENSO signals in groundwater.
- Groundwater-Surface Water Interactions: Stream depletion, river-aquifer exchanges, lake-aquifer exchanges, hyporheic processes, conjunctive water management, catchment hydrology.
- Deep and Strategic Groundwater Resources: Deep aquifers, fossil groundwater, geothermal groundwater systems, offshore groundwater, unconventional resources, geothermal resource assessment.
- Groundwater Security, Food Security and Human Mobility: Agricultural resilience, migration, climate displacement, water security, socio-hydrology, human-water interactions.
- Sustainable Groundwater Development: Safe yield, abstraction thresholds, groundwater storage, resilience assessment, sustainability indicators.
- Mountain Hydrogeology and Headwater Systems: Mountain aquifers, alpine hydrogeology, snowmelt recharge, groundwater-fed streams, high-altitude groundwater systems, Mountain Front Recharge (MFR) and Mountain Block Recharge (MBR).
- Groundwater Resources Assessment and Regional Hydrogeology: Aquifer mapping, groundwater balances, regional flow systems, groundwater inventories, groundwater resource evaluation, coastal aquifers, seawater intrusion, flows between basins.
- Groundwater and Urban Resilience: Urban groundwater systems, megacities, land subsidence, groundwater and urban water security, integrated urban water management.
Theme 3
Groundwater Characterization, Monitoring and Decision Support
Focus: Methods, tools, and scientific understanding
- Groundwater Networks and Observation Systems: Monitoring networks, telemetry, real-time monitoring, smart sensors, groundwater observatories, Internet of Things (IoT), digital monitoring platforms.
- Hydrogeological Investigation Methods: Pumping tests, slug tests, tracer tests, borehole logging, hydraulic characterization, monitoring network design.
- Hydrogeochemistry, Isotopes and Environmental Tracers: Water-rock interaction, recharge sources, groundwater age dating, isotope hydrology, contaminant tracing, geochemical models, mineral and thermal waters.
- Hydrogeophysics and Subsurface Characterization: D.C. methods, , airborne geophysics, seismic methods, electromagnetic methods, marine geophysics.
- Karst Systems and Carbonate Aquifers: Karst hydrogeology, conduit flow, cave systems, karst springs, vulnerability mapping, groundwater protection in karst terrains.
- Fractured Rock Hydrogeology: Crystalline aquifers, fracture networks, flow and transport in fractured media.
- Groundwater Modelling and Uncertainty Analysis: Flow and transport modelling, stochastic methods, uncertainty quantification, calibration and scenario analysis.
- Remote Sensing and Earth Observation: GRACE, InSAR, satellite hydrology, land subsidence monitoring, aquifer depletion assessment.
- Decision Support Systems and Risk Assessment: Early warning systems, groundwater dashboards, risk-based management and policy support tools.
- Participatory and Co-Designed Modelling: Stakeholder engagement, collaborative modelling, socio-hydrological modelling, decision-making under uncertainty.
Theme 4
Groundwater Quality, Contamination and Remediation
Focus: Protecting groundwater resources and human health
- Geogenic Contamination: Arsenic, fluoride, boron, salinity, radionuclides, trace elements and salinization processes.
- Agricultural Sources of Pollution: Nitrate contamination, sulphate pollution, pesticides, nutrient loading, irrigation return flows.
- Industrial, Urban and Mining Impacts: Heavy metals, hydrocarbons, solvents, acid mine drainage, landfill leachates and environmental impacts of extractive industries.
- Emerging Contaminants: PFAS, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, endocrine disruptors, microplastics, nanomaterials, antimicrobial resistance.
- Groundwater Quality Surveillance and Early Warning: Contaminant monitoring, pollution indicators, groundwater quality risk mapping, surveillance systems, vulnerability analysis.
- Contaminant Fate and Transport: Reactive transport, hydrogeochemical processes, attenuation mechanisms, contaminant pathways.
- Groundwater Protection and Remediation: Aquifer remediation, managed aquifer remediation, source control, risk-based remediation and groundwater restoration strategies.
- Groundwater, Drinking Water and Public Health: Exposure assessment, drinking water safety, waterborne health risks, groundwater quality standards, risk communication, vulnerable communities, exposure pathways and environmental epidemiology.
Theme 5
Groundwater, Industry, Extractive Activities and Energy Transition
Focus: Sustainable groundwater management across mining, energy, manufacturing, major infrastructure and emerging subsurface technologies
- Mining Hydrogeology, Mine Water and Closure: Mine dewatering and depressurization, groundwater inflows, pit lakes, groundwater rebound, tailings seepage, waste-rock facilities, acid rock drainage, lithium brines, closure planning, post-closure recovery and environmental liabilities.
- Groundwater and Oil and Gas Development: Baseline groundwater characterization, conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon development, hydraulic fracturing, produced water, flowback fluids, methane migration, well integrity, abandoned wells, deep formation brines, monitoring, decommissioning and remediation.
- Groundwater and Geological Carbon Storage: CO₂ storage in deep saline aquifers, pressure propagation, brine displacement, caprock integrity, leakage pathways, faults and abandoned wells, reactive transport, monitoring and verification, groundwater protection and long-term stewardship.
- Industrial Groundwater Management and Circular Water Systems: Industrial abstraction, process and cooling water, water reuse, circular water management, managed recharge using treated water, industrial groundwater footprints, corporate water stewardship, ESG indicators and drought resilience.
- Groundwater and the Energy Transition: Geothermal energy, aquifer thermal energy storage, underground hydrogen storage, compressed-air energy storage, lithium extraction, critical minerals, green hydrogen production and competition for subsurface space.
- Engineering Hydrogeology and Underground Infrastructure: Tunnels, metros, dams, underground caverns, deep excavations, construction dewatering, groundwater inflows, grouting, cutoff systems and infrastructure-aquifer interactions.
- Groundwater and Radioactive Waste Management: Geological repositories, groundwater flow in host formations, radionuclide transport, engineered and natural barriers, uranium mining, long-term safety assessment, monitoring and nuclear-site decommissioning.
- Groundwater Allocation and Conflict among Productive Sectors: Competition among communities, agriculture, mining, industry, energy and ecosystems; cumulative impacts; drought allocation; environmental justice; benefit-sharing; conflict prevention and negotiated groundwater management.
Theme 6
Groundwater, Ecosystems and Nature-Based Solutions
Focus: Environmental sustainability and ecosystem resilience
- Groundwater-Dependent Ecosystems: Wetlands, springs, rivers, estuaries, terrestrial ecosystems, ecological thresholds, groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs) and ecosystem vulnerability.
- Ecohydrogeology and Environmental Flows: Ecosystem services, groundwater-ecosystem interactions, environmental water requirements, environmental flows and socio-ecological systems.
- Nature-Based Solutions: Green infrastructure, watershed restoration, ecosystem-based adaptation, stormwater recharge and nature-based groundwater replenishment.
- Groundwater and Biodiversity Conservation: Habitat protection, ecological resilience, species conservation and protected areas.
- Urban Groundwater and Blue-Green Infrastructure: Sponge cities, stormwater management, urban resilience and nature-based urban water management.
- Groundwater Restoration and Ecosystem Recovery: Ecological restoration, contamination recovery and resilience enhancement.
- Valuing Ecosystem Services Provided by Groundwater: Natural capital, ecosystem service assessment, environmental economics and sustainability accounting.
- Groundwater, Climate Change and Ecosystem Resilience: Climate impacts on groundwater-dependent ecosystems, ecosystem adaptation, drought resilience, nature-based climate solutions, carbon sequestration and ecosystem recovery.
Theme 7
Groundwater Governance, Equity and Peacebuilding
Focus: Institutions, participation, and social dimensions
- Human Right to Water and Groundwater Access: Water rights, access and affordability, groundwater security, legal frameworks.
- Community-Based Groundwater Management: Water user associations, collective action, local governance and stewardship initiatives.
- Stakeholder Engagement and Social Learning: Multi-stakeholder platforms, participatory planning, local/community level conflict resolution and consensus building.
- Citizen Science and Knowledge Co-Production: Citizen monitoring, collaborative research, community data collection and science communication.
- Groundwater Governance in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Regions: Humanitarian contexts, post-conflict recovery, water security and resilience building.
- Groundwater Cooperation: Local stakeholder engagement, community dialogue, collaborative management and social cohesion.
- Institutional Innovation and Adaptive Governance: Polycentric governance, adaptive management, governance transitions and institutional resilience.
- Equity, Environmental Justice and Groundwater Access: Vulnerability assessment, equitable allocation, social impacts, distributive justice, marginalized communities, gender-responsive and inclusive groundwater governance.
Theme 8
Innovations and the Future of Groundwater Cooperation
Focus: Emerging technologies and transformative approaches
- Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: Predictive analytics, pattern recognition, forecasting and automated interpretation.
- Digital Twins and Smart Aquifer Management: Real-time modelling, digital aquifers, integrated management platforms, scenario planning, decision intelligence and adaptive management.
- Big Data and Digital Groundwater Systems: Data integration, cloud computing, interoperable databases, FAIR data architecture, open science and digital decision-support systems.
- Groundwater and the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem Nexus: Resource interdependencies, nexus modelling, integrated management, sustainability trade-offs, groundwater-energy interactions, renewable energy transitions and resource security.
- Groundwater and Planetary Boundaries: Earth system processes, groundwater sustainability limits, resilience assessment and global change.
- Innovative Financing and Economic Instruments: Water funds, payment for ecosystem services, groundwater markets and blended finance.
- Transformative Partnerships: Public-private partnerships, international cooperation, innovation ecosystems and regional alliance.
Theme 9
Cross-Cutting Issues and Capacity Development
Focus: Building the future groundwater community through inclusion, education, capacity development, ethics, and knowledge sharing
- Gender Equality and Social Inclusion: Diversity, equity, participation, inclusive governance, women in groundwater, underrepresented groups and social inclusion strategies.
- Indigenous and Local Knowledge Systems: Co-production of knowledge, ancestral and traditional practices, indigenous groundwater stewardship, intercultural dialogue and customary water governance.
- Youth Engagement and Future Hydrogeologists: Student initiatives, early-career professionals, mentoring, leadership development, career pathways and young professional networks.
- Ethics and Responsible Groundwater Stewardship: Environmental ethics, intergenerational equity, professional responsibility, governance accountability and ethical use of emerging technologies.
- Capacity Development and Professional Training: Workforce development, continuing professional development, technical training, institutional strengthening, practitioner training, South-South and North-South cooperation, institutional capacity development and knowledge transfer.
- Open Science and Knowledge Sharing: Open science, scientific reproducibility and knowledge exchange.
- Groundwater and the Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 6, SDG interactions, policy integration, indicators and monitoring and groundwater contributions to sustainable development.
- Groundwater Education, Literacy and Public Awareness: Hydrogeology curricula, teaching innovations, field schools, digital learning, groundwater literacy, K-12 education, university education, science communication, outreach, citizen awareness and policy communication.
